Day two, and the first full day of sessions, is off at the Mortgage Bankers Association Secondary conference in New York City.
Sunday, the MBA held its Executive Perspectives panel, which HW Content Solutions Managing Editor Sarah Wheeler tells us all about here.
As expected, Monday morning showed much more hustle than the few attendees trickling in to register and attend events Sunday afternoon. The constant buzz of the conference echoed across the halls of the Marriott Hotel in Times Square.
The MBA began its opening session Monday as Trish Regan, host of Fox Business Network's The Intelligence Report, interviewed MBA CEO Dave Stevens for a retrospect on his career in what will be Stevens’ last appearance on this stage.
Back in October, Stevens announced his retirement in a letter to all MBA members. In the letter, Stevens said he plans to stay on as president and CEO until Sept. 30, 2018, to allow the MBA to choose a new leader.
MBA Chairman David Motley opened the session by promising to continue to push for Secondary market reform, despite Congress’ refusal to take up the issue.
He explained some holdups include allowing GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to utilize pilot programs that allow them to participate in the primary market. He claimed these actions could destroy, rather than support, the primary market, and show yet another reason for the need for GSE reform.
Stevens’ interview consisted on topics ranging from the housing supply constraint in the U.S. to his view on tax reform.
When it comes to tax reform, Stevens quoted data from Fannie Mae stating 90% of Millennials want to own a home, and said the cap on property tax deductions will do little to disincentivize potential homebuyers.
Stevens concluded by talking about his proudest accomplishments during his tenure, saying he is most proud of how everyone came together as an industry. In the beginning, he said the MBA was criticized as many companies feared it would only advocate for the big banks, however he said he worked to ensure the association would represent everyone in the mortgage industry.
The MBA has a packed couple of days in store as they prepare to touch on the secondary market’s largest topics. Some of the sessions that will ensue over the week include everything from government lending and updates from the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the U.S. Department of the Treasury to the closing session Wednesday on securitizing the digital mortgage.
And we will be here to cover it all! So stay tuned to HousingWire for the latest updates from the conference.
